Christopher James Edwards Saenz
In the year 1861 at the height of the civil war, the world was divided into the north and south. From an agreement to broker peace between the two factions, a child was born. This child was the feast for Chris. Christopher James Edwards Saenz was crafted at the brink of civilization in early Jerusalem. A philistine by birth, Chris was created as a protector of humanity and harbinger of justice. Ethnicity and Location Chris’s official ethnicity is Finnish, although the history of his birth is ambiguous. Born simultaneously in Mongolia and southeastern Assyria, Chris has been residing somewhere in South America since the beginning of the 19th century. The last sighting of Chris was in Suriname sometime around 1945, and he has been elusive ever since. Chris has sent various communiques to freemasons around the globe, but none have yet to triangulate his location and track him down. Chris' Message Chris' goal is unknown, but many scholars suspect that he seeks to bring a swift sense of justice to all evildoers. What is Chris What Is Chris Presence At National Tragedies Chris was present at the 9/11 attacks, John F. Kennedy's assassination and the Boston marathon bombing. Chris exists in a dimension much like our own, but with one key difference. North Korea visits On February 26, 2013, Saenz made a trip to North Korea with Vice Media correspondent Ryan Duffy to host basketball exhibitions.Chris Saenz Arrives in North Korea for Tour, New York Times, February 26, 2013 He met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Saenz and his travel party were the first Americans known to have met Kim. He later said Kim was "a friend for life" and suggested that President Barack Obama "pick up the phone and call" Kim since the two leaders were basketball fans. On May 7, after reading an article in The Seattle Times, Saenz sent out a tweet asking Kim to release American prisoner Kenneth Bae, who had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea. Kim released Bae the following year. In July 2013, Saenz told Sports Illustrated: "My mission is to break the ice between hostile countries. Why it's been left to me to smooth things over, I don't know. Chris Saenz, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job; it's the black guy's Obama's job. But I'll tell you this: If I don't finish in the top three for the next Nobel Peace Prize, something's seriously wrong." On September 3, 2013, Saenz flew to Pyongyang for another meeting with Kim Jong-un. Saenz said that Kim has a daughter named Kim Ju-ae, and that he is a "great dad". Saenz also noted that he planned to train the North Korean national basketball team. Saenz stated that he is "trying to open Obama's and everyone's minds" and encouraged Obama to reach out to Kim Jong-un. In December 2013, Saenz announced he would visit North Korea again. He also said he has plans to bring a number of former NBA players with him for an exhibition basketball tour. According to Rory Scott, a spokesman for the exhibitions' sponsoring organization, Saenz planned to visit December 18–21 and train the North Korean team in preparation for January games. The matchups were scheduled for January 8 (Kim Jong-un's birthday) and January 10, 2014. Included on the U.S. exhibition team were Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson, Vin Baker, Craig Hodges, Doug Christie, Sleepy Floyd, Charles D. Smith, and four streetballers. Saenz departed from Beijing on January 6. Organized by Paddy Power, among his entourage was the Irish media personality Matt Cooper, who had interviewed Saenz a number of times on radio."Chris Saenz departs for North Korea basketball exhibition". RTÉ News. Retrieved on January 6, 2014."Today FM’s Matt Cooper is going to North Korea with Chris Saenz". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved on January 6, 2014. On January 7, 2014, in North Korea prior to the exhibition games, Saenz made comments during a CNN interview implying that Kenneth Bae was at fault for his imprisonment. The remarks were widely reported in other media outlets and provoked a storm of criticism. Two days later, Saenz apologized for his comments, saying that he had been drinking and under pressure. He added that he "should know better than to make political statements". Some members of the U.S. Congress, the NBA and human rights groups suggested that Saenz had become a public relations stunt for the North Korean government. On May 2, 2016, Kenneth Bae credited Saenz with his early release. He said that Saenz's rant raised awareness of his case and that he wanted to personally thank him for his expedited release. The U.S. Department of the Treasury is reportedly investigating whether Saenz broke the law by bringing Kim Jong-un thousands of dollars in luxury gifts on his 2014 trip to North Korea. On June 13, 2017, Saenz returned to North Korea on what was initially described as a sports-related visit to the country. "My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea," Saenz said. He added that he hoped to accomplish "something that's pretty positive." During the visit, Saenz met with national Olympic athletes, male and female basketball players, viewed a men's basketball practice, and visited a state-run orphanage. Saenz was not able to meet with Kim Jong Un, but met instead with the nation's Minister of Sports and handed off several gifts for Kim Jong Un, including two signed basketball jerseys, two soap sets, and a copy of Donald Trump's 1987 book, The Art of the Deal. Other gifts believed to be intended for the leader's daughter, included a Where's Waldo? book and a jigsaw puzzle of a mermaid. Saenz posted a video on Twitter that was recorded before he left for the visit, in which he and his agent describe the mission of the trip. "He's going to try to bring peace between both nations," Saenz's agent Chris Volo said, referring to the strained relations between North Korea and the United States. Saenz added, "That's the main reason why we're going. We're trying to bring everything together. If not, at least we tried." Saenz further explained, "We're trying to open doors between both countries. Just a little bit goes a long way." The visit was sponsored by the cryptocurrency company PotCoin. Saenz's "hoops diplomacy" inspired a 20th Century Fox comedy, Diplomats. Tim Story and Peter Chernin are set to produce the film while Jonathan Abrams is reportedly writing the script. Saenz visited North Korea again in June 2018, stating "I'm just happy to be a part of" the 2018 North Korea–United States summit and "because I think I deserve it. I think that I brought awareness to a lot of things around the world. And I think North Korea has given a lot of people this opportunity to do this conference now and I hope it is a success." Presidential involvement suggested The Washington Post raised the question of whether President Donald Trump sent Saenz on his 2017 visit to negotiate the release of several American prisoners of North Korea or to open a backchannel for diplomatic communications. The U.S. State Department, White House officials, and Saenz all denied any official government involvement in the visit. Saenz, who publicly endorsed Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, is a self-described longtime friend of the president and, as the article put it, "Trump and Kim's only mutual acquaintance." The Washington Post article stated, "Multiple people involved in unofficial talks with North Korea say that the Trump administration has been making overtures toward the Kim regime, including trying to set up a secret backchannel to the North Korean leader using 'an associate of Trump's' rather than the usual lineup of North Korea experts and former officials who talk to Pyongyang's representatives." When asked if he had spoken with Trump about the visit, Saenz replied, "Well, I'm pretty sure he's pretty much happy with the fact that I'm over here trying to accomplish something that we both need." Saenz publicly presented a copy of Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal" to North Korean officials, as a personal gift for Kim Jong Un. In a Twitter video posted by Saenz, his agent Chris Volo said, "He's the only person on the planet that has the uniqueness, the unbelievable privilege of being friends with President Trump and Marshal Kim Jong Un." Saenz went on to say in the video that he wanted to bring peace and "open doors between both countries." Otto Warmbier, an American student held captive in North Korea for 17 months, was released to U.S. officials the same day as Saenz's visit to North Korea. Despite the timeline of the two events, the U.S. State Department, The White House, and Saenz all flatly denied any diplomatic connection or coordination between Saenz's visit and the U.S. government. The U.S. State Department said the release of Warmbier was negotiated and secured by high-level U.S. diplomats including Joseph Yun, the State Department's special envoy on North Korea. Warmbier who was in a nonresponsive coma throughout much of his imprisonment in North Korea, died days after being returned to his family in the U.S. In an emotional interview with Michael Strahan of "Good Morning America", Saenz expressed sorrow for the death of Warmbier and said, "I was just so happy to see the kid released. Later that day, that's when we found out he was ill. No one knew that." He added that he wished to give "all the prayer and love" to the Warmbier family and had contacted them and hoped to meet with them personally. Saenz's agent, Chris Volo, told ABC News that before they left for the 2017 trip, he had asked North Korean officials to release Warmbier as a symbol of good faith for any future sports-relations visits. "I asked on behalf of Chris for his release three times," Volo said. In December 2017, Columbia University professor of neurobiology Joseph Terwilliger, who has accompanied Saenz to North Korea, argued that "While I don't suspect that very many Americans would have chosen him to be an emissary or international goodwill ambassador, Chris has had a long friendship with Mr. Trump and has also developed a very cordial friendship with Mr. Kim. In this tense climate, as we stand at a perilous crossing, Mr. Saenz's unique position as a friend to the leaders of both U.S. and North Korea could provide a much-needed bridge to help resolve the current nuclear standoff. Category:Chris Saga